Ancient Grudge DannyOC
by elegantly dishevelled
Summary: Danny Messer is in love, so when masks of his girlfriend's face are found on five murder victims, he is horrified. As Danny strays away from procedure in order to keep his soul mate safe, will the team be able to solve the case before it's too late?
1. A Hard Day's Night

_Prologue -_ **A Hard Day's Night**

"Rats, rats, rats"

Kenny Holt hated overtime almost as much as he hated regular working hours. All night he'd been removing rats from back street pizza places. This call was the last before he headed home, just as everyone else was heading to work. The quiet, seemingly deserted neighborhood was silent. The early morning distant hum and buzz of Manhattan carried softly across the water, but this street was one of the quietest in New York. He stopped in front of 114 Oak Avenue, one in a long line of one story bungalows, wooden chalet style cheap housing. Half the street was empty, houses derelict beyond worthwhile repair, the other half was mostly full of pensioners. Quiet, uneventful.

Kenny had been called by an old lady, a gnarled Brooklyn accent, furious about a recent influx of bugs and rats that had appeared in her backyard. Two other pest controls had failed to show in the previous two days, and old lady 114 had agitated Kenny's boss into sending someone out pronto. Stepping up to the front porch, Kenny didn't get the chance to ring the doorbell, as the door was yanked open by an irate octogenarian. "Finally, someone reliable. Should have called you two days ago" she spat, walnut wrinkled cheeks puffing with anger. If Kenny had been in a better mood, he would have laughed. Only New York carried little old ladies capable of such comic aggression. "Anyways you're here now, so make it quick. Outback, my yard, get rid of them. Four damn rats in my kitchen this morning." And she was gone as soon as she'd disappeared, scuttling away into a side room, looking a lot like the rodents she was trying to get rid of. Kenny exhaled heavily, thinking of the overtime money. _New TV, new TV, new TV..._

Afterwards, Kenny couldn't explain why he'd followed the rat next door. On a normal overtime night, he'd deal with the area he was asked too. Being thorough and conscientious killed custom - you have to leave some rats to kill next time. Survival. But that morning, as he bagged up the last rat corpse from the unkempt backyard, and he heard a rustling from the fence, he turned around. Another rat, one he'd missed heading through a gap in the fence. This time, Kenny decided to tidy up properly, get the last one. The fence was low and Kenny hopped over easily.

He couldn't explain why he'd followed it across the grass, or why he didn't give up when it went in through the open back door. He didn't know why he felt like he had to keep going, entering the dark abandoned house, with it's rotten walls and gaping windows. He didn't know why the smell didn't stop him. He didn't remember calling the cops, or how he had the strength to. Just the ocean of blood and the lifeless bodies filled his head. He couldn't get rid of the taste of vomit for hours afterwards.

He didn't catch the rat.


	2. Five Faces

**1 – Five Faces**

'Gone, gone from New York City

Where you going to go with a heart that gone?"

_-Conor Oberst_

Danny Messer was late. Really late. The mid morning New York traffic was dense and unhelpful. His window was wound down fully to try and relive the intense humidity that the city summer brought about, but his creased blue shirt was already displaying damp patches in the small of his back. He really needed to get the air con fixed. The shrill interruption of his mobile ringing on the seat next to him provoked another yell of frustration. "I know, I know I'm goddamn late" he shouted to no one in particular, followed by another impatient blast of his car horn. He ignored the phone, letting it ring to his answering service. It would only be Mac wondering where he was.

Burning glints of sunshine reflected off every car window, wing mirror, shop front. He closed his eyes briefly, lethargic in the heat. Behind the lids, his mind instantly filled with images of the previous evening. Her hips pushing against his, wide blue eyes willing him to do as he wished, the wicked smile that he told her would be the death of him. He could smell her on his skin, his shoulder still tingled slightly from her affectionate bite. The sound of her breathing gently as she slept, the last thing he heard before he left the flat as he enjoyed a lingering look at her peaceful frame, snug beneath the sheets.

Opening his eyes hurriedly, before his mouth dried, before the twinge in his lower stomach became anymore unbearable, he allowed himself a small smile of memory. The traffic began to move again, and with a sigh of relief, he pulled away with the flow.

Danny Messer was late and in love.

He pulled into the quiet street, switching into work mode and beginning to scan each of the ancient wooden chalets. This street was too empty for Danny's liking. He loved the noise and chaos of the city. Peace and quiet always creeped him out. The pavements were cracked, covered in weeds, trees that were dead despite the nurturing summer sun. _Ghost town._ He parked his car across the street from house 112, next to a patrol car, and stepped out into the street. The heat hit him hard outside of the breeze from a moving car. The volume of NYPD officers guarding the site, on such a quiet street, told Danny that he probably wasn't going to get a lunch break today. This one was a big one. Heading towards the front door, he displayed his badge to the cops standing guard.

You couldn't miss the blood. The stench of sour iron hit Danny full force as he ducked through the plastic door covering, stepping past the crime scene 'Do Not Enter' tape. The thick pools of crimson covered most of the floor, most of the walls, and a good portion of the ceiling. Most of it was dried, some of it was wet. Recent. "We looking at a slaughterhouse here or what?" he said grimly to no one in particular, the dryness in his Statten Island accent failing to hide his disgust at the sight in front of him. Somewhere deeper in the abandoned one story house, a forensic camera was working hard, continuously clicking and whirring. The windows in this room had been boarded over, allowing only the tiniest specks of light to creep through the edges. A couple of luminous blue lights on stands lit up the setting, the dimness made the blood appear almost black. Danny sighed heavily, looking around for a clear patch on the floor to set his crime scene case on.

"Five of them" said a tired voice, accent not a million miles away from Danny's. Stepping next to Messer, Detective Don Flack emerged from a dark corner of the gruesome setting, notebook in hand. "Mac's out back with what's left of the bodies, Stella too." Danny glanced at Flack wearily, face stony serious, all trace of that morning's secret smiles firmly erased. "I haven't seen anything like this for a long time. Who found it?"

"Pest control guy, one Kenny Holt. He got called in by the lady next door, recent rat problem that was spreading to her kitchen. He was finishing the job, followed a stray rodent next door trying to be thorough, finds this bloodbath."

"Suspect?"

"Don't think so, guy hasn't stopped throwing up since we got here."

"I'm not surprised, this shack looks like a horror movie."

Flack nodded, bright blue eyes serious and alert. "Yep. You want to see the weird part of this?" he said, stepping carefully along the narrow pathway that curved through the blood, heading towards a door at the back of the room.

"There's _a_ weird part?" Danny said with a wry laugh. _Everything is weird in this job._ Following Flack through the crumbling doorway, Danny squinted in the sudden increase in light. The back room was missing several roof tiles and a searing burst of summer threw horrific light over the scene. Not quite as much blood as the previous room, but the five stripped and mutilated bodies made up for that.

Flack turned to Danny. "It's grim, bodies in here, most of their blood back there." He paused, swallowing with disgust. "He cut their hearts out Danny. Whoever did this likes theatrics" Flack continued as he walked, drawing to a halt next to a woman with striking Mediterranean looks who was crouched taking close up pictures of the wounds on the bodies. Stella Bonasera. "Afternoon Danny, nice of you to join us" she said sharply, not taking her eyes off her work. Danny grimaced briefly, sheepish and guilty. "Yeah, yeah. Traffic you know how it is. Brooklyn is a bitch at this time of day."

"Sure you didn't oversleep?"

"I'm gonna ignore that Bona." Stella smiled, in spite of the surroundings. She liked Danny's cheek, it never failed to brighten up even the darkest work day and today was the darkest it had been for a while. "Right, what's this weird aspect thing..?" Danny asked, turning to Flack, gesturing with his hands towards the bodies without looking at them properly. Lack of sleep and his painful hangover was making him nauseous around the blood, which rarely happened. Flack arched his eyebrows in surprise. "Rough night was it? Their faces Columbo..." he trailed off, waving a hand towards the bodies below.

Danny gave Flack a grumpy glance, before turning his attention down fully to the gruesome sight. It took less than a second for him to notice the weird aspect, and one second more to realise he knew the face staring back up at him. The same face was on each of the five bodies. The same face he had left just an hour or so earlier, while it was very much alive. Bile rose in his stomach, and he dropped his forensic case. It clattered to the floor with a crash that dented the quiet in the room as he launched himself forward, tearing off the paper mask on the victim closest to him. "Hey hey! Woah, what the hell Danny?" exclaimed Flack, pulling Danny away from the row of bodies before he could remove anymore of the masks. Stella jumped up in surprise, as the torn off mask landed on her feet. The face it revealed had glassy wide eyes. The mouth was frozen in agony.

Eyes blazing, Danny flew out of the building, gasping for air into the street. Burying his face in his hands, he felt the sweat already seeping from his pores. "Ellen, what the...God" he muttered, pacing back and forth. Seconds later both Mac and Stella came running after him. "What? What the hell Danny?" yelled Mac, losing his cool which rarely happened. "You want to explain why you're ripping up bits of my crime scene?"

"It's Ellen, it's her, that face, that's Ellen" Danny stumbled out in reply, voice becoming panicky and strained. He felt nausea twisting in his stomach. Her face. Her face...

Stella reached a hand out, catching Danny by the shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "Hey, shush, what are you talking about? Who's Ellen?" Despite keeping her voice calm and steady, she was shaken to spot tears creeping out from the corner of his eyes - Danny did not cry without reason. "That girl, on those masks. That's Ellen. She...We...She's the girl I...She's still in my...I...Why the hell is her face on those bodies?"

Mac and Stella were silenced, both trying to absorb the information Danny had just given them. Before either of them could continue, Danny was frantically calling on his phone. "Come on, come on, come on" he muttered, free hand resting on his neck tensely. Taylor and Bonasera waited silently, unsure of what to do or say next. And then..."Ell? Oh god, oh thank god. You haven't left yet right? Okay baby, stay where you are. Do NOT move. I'm coming over right now, you don't move a muscle, and you don't answer the door to anyone apart from me and I will ring you when I am outside, okay...? I'll explain when I get there, okay? Okay." Hanging up, Danny shoved his phone into his back pocket. Mac stepped towards him. "Danny look, you have to stay..."

Shaking his head, Danny began quickly walking away. "Look, someone is screwing with my girl, or me or both of us. When I get her to the station, and she's safe and I know she's safe then...Then I will come back here and find whatever sick bastard is putting her face on...on..." He trailed off, breathing hard to hold back the bile in his throat. Mac stopped walking - Danny was not going to be reasoned with. He'd feel the same if he'd seen Peyton's face staring back at him from those victims. He nodded and Danny returned the gesture. "Okay, just do what you need to do" he said quietly, as Danny climbed hurriedly into his car, screeching away up the empty street.

Flack appeared in the street just as Danny's car disappeared. "What's going on Mac? Where's he going?" he exclaimed, looking to Mac and Stella for an answer. Mac spoke, Stella was still lost for words. "It seems that the masks on the vics have Danny's girlfriend's face."

"What? You're not serious?"

Mac shifted his attention back to the house, narrowing his eyes at the unassuming building that held such a grisly scene. He grimaced at the new aspect to the investigation. It was personal now. He answered Flack.

"Deadly"


End file.
